


If you’re still breathing you’re the lucky ones

by CertifiedAngstWriter



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Hanahaki Disease, M/M, TW: Blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:33:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24524680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CertifiedAngstWriter/pseuds/CertifiedAngstWriter
Summary: Ianto never thought he’d get the flowers... until one day he did.
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Kudos: 31





	If you’re still breathing you’re the lucky ones

Ianto never even considered that he would get the flowers. He had been happy with Lisa and heartbroken when she died. In fact, he had almost forgotten the flowers even existed. He had only heard stories of them but to him they seemed horrifying. Of course there were cures by the means of surgeries and medicines but each one removed ones ability to ever fall in love and few decided to go through with them. Ianto also knew that only half of the people who got the disease were cured by the love being returned. 

When he woke in the night with cough harsh enough to wake the dead, he thought it was nothing more than just a cough and dragged himself to the kitchen to fix himself a glass of water. Ianto felt like thorns were cutting their way up his throat and he coughed to relieve the sensation. He watched with a mixture of shock and dismay as a pink petal spotted with blood fluttered from his lips to the floor. He took a shaky sip of his water as he bent to inspect the petal. It looked to be a rose-acacia petal. Secret love, everyone knew that and they weren't uncommon with the disease. Ianto didn't yet feel weak and he knew it was just the early stages, he didn't even know who it was he loved just yet. 

He woke the next morning and dressed as normal. He shoved a pack of tissues in his blazer pocket, he might need them, and left the flat. It wasn't easy to keep the flowers secret, but he knew he couldn't tell the team. He didn't know how much time he had left but he knew if he didn't die on the field he would die from the flowers and he honestly didn't know which one he preferred. "So then I we thought that you could..." Gwen trailed off as ianto interrupted her, "I'm really sorry Gwen" he apologised as he felt the harsh stems forcing their way up his throat getting more aggressive with every time he forced them back down "I Uh. I think jack wants me" he darted away from the situation like a terrified rabbit as he locked himself in the hub bathroom and thumping into the door as he slid down it, allowing the harsh coughs to finally wrack his body. He stared with disgust at the pile of bloody flower petals and some even small flower heads in his hands as he attempted to decipher them. Daisies .... "great well it's not innocent love knowing me so I guess i'm loyal to them" he muttered as he picked at a striped petal which he assumed was from a carnation "refusal" he scoffed "what?? So I refuse I love them?" He scooped the petals into a bundle of tissue before flushing the evidence of his disease into the waste pipes of the hub. 

Back in the main hub an alert sounded on tosh's computer. The new tech she had installed in the bathroom seemed to be working well as it detected a loud bump, which it must have depicted as a sign of struggle, and turned its camera on. Tosh sighed in relief as she saw that it was only ianto. However her relieved sigh quickly turned to concern when she watched ianto slide down the door coughing harshly. Upon seeing the stress his body was clearly under, she almost yelled for Owen. That was, until the younger man moved his head. She stared in horror as the camera picked up the pile of flower petals that Ianto was now discreetly disposing of "oh ianto" she whispered as she clicked off of the cctv deciding she had seen enough for now. She wondered if she should confront Ianto, after all it was rather life threatening. She shook her head at herself, Ianto was being discreet for a reason it wasn't her place.

Each day was harder for ianto and, by the time two weeks had passed, he was feeling considerably weaker as he stumbled past his bedroom mirror in search of his shirt, glancing fleetingly at the miniature version of the pink flower amaranth that was sprouting from his collarbone.... Wait what? He took a step back and stared intently at the mirror "well that's new" he muttered as he touched the miniature plant. He winced as he wrapped his hand around it, he knew there was only one way to stop the team from finding this out. He took a deep breath before pulling harshly at the plant letting out a wail of pain when it was ripped from his skin. He looked at the offending plant in his hand as he felt a small gush of blood trail down his body. "Amaranth." He stated as the meaning of the plant practically confirmed what he had been fretting about for days "immortal love". In some cases it meant that their love for the person would never die, but ianto wasn't stupid, somehow he knew that this was a love toward an immortal man. An immortal man who did not love him back in any way. 

————- time skip to a few days later-————

Ianto didn't mean for jack to find out he really hadn't but he had been careless. Ianto had been on his last weeks of his life he just knew was was and he had been manning the tourist office when his weakness finally got the better of him, his head dropped to the table and he fell asleep. This wouldn't have been a problem if it hadn't had become a common occurrence for tiny flowers to grow from wherever on his body he was not wearing clothes. The bell to the tourist office rang as a thin relatively elderly woman entered it. She smiled kindly upon seeing the young employee asleep on the desk and made to turn away making a mental note to call back later. That was, until her gaze was drawn to the young mans hand which lay on the desk. She gasped as she saw the small but unmistakable daisy that had begun to grow and hit the small button on the desk clearly labelled with a notice "if you need assistance, this button will send an alert to the main office and someone will be with you shortly". She had been to this tourist office before and knew how things worked, surely enough after around 4 minutes a man who she knew to be the boss appeared through the beaded curtain. "Can I help yo- oh he fell asleep huh?" He said in an American accent as she shushed him. "Forgive me sir but I believe your employee is well .... unwell" she said in a hushed voice as she gestured to the sleeping ianto on the desk. Jack frowned and she beckoned to him to move around the desk and see what she had seen. Jacks eyes widened as they settled on the small daisy that continued to grow from Ianto's skin he managed to pull himself together enough to speak to the woman "thank you we will Uhm we'll get it seen to. Perhaps you would like to come back later and sort something out I'm incredibly sorry for this" he said with a dazzling smile. The woman nodded "don't be sorry I just hope whoever it is he loves, loves him back one day. it would be such a shame if he could never love again". Jack looked at her in confusion "what do you mean" he asked suspiciously he had heard of the flowers but didn't know nearly as much as Ianto's did about them, in fact all he knew was that the affected person would cough up flowers and in severe cases like it seemed Ianto's was progressing to would grow flowers from their body. "Well" began the old woman "I assume you want him to live ... the only way is either to get the person to realise that they love him back or get them removed with the surgeries or medicines which will remove his ability to ever fall in love again" she said with a smile that was a half grimace before leaving the shop. Jack watched until she was out of sight and immediately rushed to Ianto's side, the rise and fall of the welshman's shoulders being the only thing that convinced him that it wasn't too late already. He shook the younger man gently calling his name softly as not to startle him. Ianto woke with a sleepy snuffle "Sorry I... why are you looking at me like that" he said his voice half heavy with sleep half suddenly alert as jack glanced toward his hand. Ianto choked back his tears of knowledge that jack now knew as he let out an exasperated sigh, ripping the flower from his hand causing blood to gush from his new wound just like every time. "Ianto it's okay" jack told him though he didn't quite believe it himself. These flowers seemed destructive, jack had learned to repress love for people he knew couldn't love him back and this gave him further reason to as ianto collapsed into his arms and began to sob. Jack loved ianto he knew he did but he couldn't love him, he needed to help ianto through this, he wasn't going to let him die and jack knew that he wouldn't be able to do this if he too began to suffer from the disease as it was obvious it wasn't him ianto felt the love for but he could already feel his walls breaking as he watched the man in front of him. Iantos sobs soon led to a coughing fit and jack resorted to rubbing the younger man's back as petals fell from his mouth. Ianto could feel the roots of the flowers in his lungs but something odd seemed to happen to them today as jack whispered words of comfort in his ears. He felt them dislodging as he let out one final cough. Instead of a petal a section of a flower root fell to the floor. Jack stopped and stared at it "does that .... normally happen?" He asked in a small voice already knowing the answer. Ianto looked at him, his baby blue eyes filling with tears as he crashed his lips into the captains and this time it was different than before. He could finally feel the love.

**Author's Note:**

> This is transferred from my wattpad... again. hope you enjoyed.


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